Santer reaffirms EU commitment to nuclear safety

Speaking on the eve of the nuclear safety summit in Moscow on 19 April 1996, Mr. Jacques Santer, President of the European Commission, reaffirmed the EU's commitment to support programmes designed to ensure the safety of nuclear installations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE...

Speaking on the eve of the nuclear safety summit in Moscow on 19 April 1996, Mr. Jacques Santer, President of the European Commission, reaffirmed the EU's commitment to support programmes designed to ensure the safety of nuclear installations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and the New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union.

Mr. Santer observed that the EU was by far the largest contributor to the general programme, established in 1992, to assist the CEE and NIS countries in improving the safety of nuclear installations. He emphasized, however, that, on the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, nuclear safety in the Eastern countries continued to be a concern for the international community.

The EU's PHARE and TACIS programmes, which provide aid to the CEE and NIS countries respectively, both contain nuclear safety assistance programmes. The total funding provided through these between 1991 and 1995 amounted to ECU 555 million. ECU 132 million went to PHARE countries, and ECU 423 million to the TACIS countries. This aid has been concentrated on the following priority areas:

In addition, the EU has committed up to ECU 500 million, through TACIS and the Euratom loan facility, to the G7 Action Plan for the Ukraine Energy Sector, established in 1994. Activities under this plan include the decommissioning of Chernobyl units 1-3, and the completion of two new reactors, Rovno 4 and Khmelnitsky 2. The plan also covers non-nuclear energy projects, including energy efficiency measures.